Friday, 16 September 2011

The forecasts will be key for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM-T29.40-0.09-0.31%) this quarter, as investors grope for hints that the company’s long downturn is coming to an end.

Predictions of sharply higher-than-expected profits and stronger sales when the Canadian company reports results on Thursday could help ease the pain caused by launch delays, poorly-received products and tough global competition.

But its new phones, touchscreen devices aimed to narrow the popularity gap with Apple’s iPhone and phones using Google’s Android software, are only a stop-gap move for the company, which has cut jobs and is fending off shareholder requests for management change.

“RIM is being progressively effaced from the North American handset market,” Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu wrote in a note that said RIM’s declining U.S. market offered a clue to its fate in other markets. “The window of opportunity for RIM to fix its product portfolio is most likely gone.”